‘It’s against Nigeria’s democracy’ — law professor writes Biden, Trudeau over Chimamanda’s letter

Yemi Oke, a law professor, has faulted a letter written by Chimamanda Adichie, a Nigerian novelist, over the conduct of the February 25 presidential election.

In a letter published last Thursday, Adichie said the Nigerian election was “deliberately manipulated”.

The letter was addressed to US President Joe Biden.

The award-winning novelist added that the presidential election was fraught with discrepancies, irregularities, and violence.

However, the letter has continued to generate reactions since it was published.

In a counter-letter addressed to Biden and Justin Trudeau, prime minister of Canada, Oke said Adichie’s correspondence was “against Nigeria’s democracy”.

The law professor claimed that the letter contains “seditious elements”, adding that it is a “case of extraterritorial ethnocentric politicking of a non-resident Nigerian-American”.

Oke said Adichie’s claims and assertions about the presidential election were “ludicrous, illogical, and depicts ignoble ranting of an uninformed mind about legal and judicial processes or procedures”.

The academic said his counter-letter was not to “vilify, ridicule or incite” against the celebrated writer.

“It is most bewildering that a privileged Nigerian-born writer, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie born in Enugu, Nigeria in 1977 but now lives in the United State of America, has decided to paint her country of origin “black”. Sadly, Chimamandi’s letter is a reckless affront on our resolve not to be part of the “brain-drain” syndrome against our dear country Nigeria like the writer. Some of us are determined to be “brain-gain” to Nigeria,” the law professor writes.

“It is in view of this that we felt taken aback that Chimamanda went below expectations to pen down a seditious letter against the Government and people of Nigeria.

“Chimamandi’s letter titled “Nigeria’s Hollow Democracy” was not about the election or person of the President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu whose victory was freely and fairly unveiled despite dis-oriented opposition politicking and those of their supporters in Nigeria and their allies in the diaspora.

“Chimamandi’s letter was against entire “Nigeria’s Democracy” that was fought and procured with patriotic bloods, labour, efforts, lives and undeterred resolve of democrats, chief among them being Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who, by divine arrangement, is now the President-elect of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“Chimamanda’s claims and assertions on the recently concluded presidential elections in Nigeria is not only ludicrous, it is also illogical, baseless and depicts ignoble ranting of an uninformed mind about legal and judicial processes or procedures,” the law professor wrote.

“It is unimaginable that someone who did not participate or vote in an election would make categorical statements about an election she did not witness.

“What Chimamanda did not tell her gullible readers is that her candidate won mostly in her/his ethnic enclaves and that the president-elect Bola Tinubu, President Buhari, notable Nigerian governors, senators, and others also lost in their strongholds, which should ordinarily have been their locational advantage for “manipulating” the outcome, as Chimamanda unconscionably and recklessly alleged.

“The intention of this open letter is not to vilify, ridicule or incite and set the law of sedition in motion against Chimamanda. It is to right-size her over-bloated ego of perceived global self-esteem.

“She needs to realise that thousands, if not millions of Nigerians (including those of us who are now back home in Nigeria — but still frequently travel to those sides — to be a part of the solution and those still in the diaspora) have had similar and even better opportunities in Canada, US, UK and other countries of the world without deploying our privileged positions to undermine our country of origin, Nigeria.”